Strathisla 1960 51 YO Gordon & MacPhail

Strathisla 1960 51 YO Gordon & MacPhail, 43 %

Some of the last memories from Cinderella Whisky Fair 2014 is coming up! A real gem - for many. Todays whisky is a 51 YO Strathisla from 1960, bottled by Gordon & MacPhail.

The whisky was distilled 17 and 19 November 1960 and bottled 28 February 2012. It comes from to casks; one first fill sherry butt number 2547 and one first fill sherry hogshead number 2552.

Nose (23/25): This starts with a lovely smell. A lot of sherry, very warm, peaches, figs, leather, shoe polish, a bit of dust and some oakiness. Really impressive for a 51 yo whisky!

Taste (19/25): To me the lovely experience ends with the first sip. Still a lot of sherry, but very dry, quite thin with an edge. There was vinegar in the end, and the whisky became sour.

Finish (19/25): The finish was dry and at the same time it left some sort of coating in the mouth. Not exactly like oil, but maybe more like the aftertaste of nuts.

Balance (20/25): Well, what can I say. This old whisky started out showing that it still had a lot to give on the nose. But then it fell through in my opinion. I think this one has spent to many years in the cask and the oakiness dominated and made the taste very dry.

Having said that, I want to emphasize that I often do not like old whiskies that much. So if you do like old whiskies and get a chance to taste this Strathisla, I would definitely recommend it. Even though I do not fancy old whiskies, this came out with a decent score I think.

Score (81/100)

- Tone